El Paso County Works to Repair Flooded Culverts

With thunderstorms in the forecast for the next few days, the possibility of flash flooding in El Paso County remains. As KRCC’s Liz Ruskin reports, the county is working to repair roads in the Black Forest area damaged in last weekend’s floods.

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The county is placing road maintenance equipment in Black Forest so it can quickly remove flood debris and keep drainages open. County Spokesman Dave Rose says the big challenge is a large drainage system that runs south through the burn area and then along Shoup Road, an important east-west route.

The county engineer is very concerned about Shoup Road itself in that same general area. Very near there, there is another culvert, which protects Shoup Road itself. That culvert we’ve been able to keep clean but it has still not been able to handle the volume of water coming down that drainage :23

Rose says work is about to begin to replace metal culvert on an intersecting street that was washed away over the weekend with a flood-resistant cement box culvert. He says they are looking at replacing the overburdened culvert along Shoup Road at the same time.

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The federal government has approved a major disaster declaration for the Royal Gorge Fire in Fremont County. The declaration means federal aid is available to deal with the effects, including unemployment benefits for Royal Gorge Bridge & Park employees and others who are out of work after this summer’s wildfire, who aren’t otherwise eligible for state jobless benefits. Aid is also available for emergency work and the repair or replacement of damaged facilities. Governor John Hickenlooper’s office says a similar request for the Black Forest Fire is pending.